Anyone using Control Point Power Manager to max battery life ?

Guys, I'm stumped on this one and could use some help.

Scenario:

System: E6500, Vista Ultimate

Using Control Point System Manager - Power Manager module

If you click on the Battery Status button and then select Settings at the bottom right, it takes you to a sub page with check boxes to select what features to use/disable to extend battery life.

Things like ;

Use Vista Basic appearance (ie turn off Aero)
Put Windows in Power Saver mode
Power off optical drive

Enabling these features work as they should when switching to battery (ie removing power). The power mode switches from Balanced to Power Saver, Aero turns off and go into basic mode, the optical drive it turned off.

Note: Don't enable Dell Extended Battery Life, because it selects and locks all those checkboxes, including some you don't want enabled.

Problem:
When system is restarted, all of the slected checkboxes are cleared and the power saving settings are lost/don't work until you check the ones you want all over again.....at least until the next reboot.


This happens on all our systems including the ones we imaged our selves as well the stock Dell install.

Ideas ?

 

I noticed when I have it set to Maximum Battery (Dell) when I have my computer idle for a few minutes it should standby/hibernate but will just freeze with a blank screen.

I have to hard reset it, I also noticed if I close the lid then open it back up when I get the black screen I will see the standby/hibernate screen and then it will go into standby/hibernate.

I don't have issues with the regular Batttery Maximum profile.

Sorry for going off topic.

 

To be clear, I'm not refering to the Vista's native power saving features, found in the baterry power profiles.

You need to select (DCP) in your system tray, right click to |Installed Modules|Power Manager, then select the top button Battery Status. At the bottom of that page is the Configure Advanced Battery Life Settings button.

The settings lpages looks like this.
Unfotunately for some reason I can't seem to figure out all the checkboxes get cleared out on each reboot.

 

There is a menu before this one where you can set a checkbox with the label that goes something like "Remember Advanced Battery Life settings on reboot"

 

Yep but that checkbox is only availbe if you enable the entire Dell Entended Battery Life package, which locks ALL the checkboxes on the settings page and enables things you don't want like;

-Put Audio in Low power state
-Set color resolution to 16 bit
-Power down 1394, media card and cardbus

 

I noticed that too, rather annoying. At least it's a step in the right direction though. You used to have to manually disabled all of those devices in the device manager.

 

So you're having the same problem with it losing its settings on a reboot ?
Seems like the DCP power module is just borked then.


I'm surprised more people aren't complaining about this.

 

Hi folks,

I've been experiencing exactly the same problem as described in this thread.
I'v tried everything I can possiblt think of to no avail.
Does anyone have any other ideas for a solution?
Thanks,
- Drax

 

Hah!
I found the best solution, sometimes it's the simpliest things.

Disable all Dell power management features and use the windows built in power management instead.
You lose on screen notifications but who needs those anyway right?
Just make sure that you disable any PCI-E power saving options if you are running a discrete graphics card (such as the NVIDIA Quadro NVS 160M)

Cheers,
- DraX

 

How does one find these Windows power settings?